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Local, state, and federal governments are mobilizing support, but if benefits are not delivered equitably to SMEs, polarization and inequality will increase as the crisis progresses — and last long after it has ended. This Dalberg-authored white paper shows how to address the unique needs of minority-owned small businesses.
The COVID-19 pandemic and its socioeconomic shockwaves are unprecedented in our lifetimes. Most businesses in the country will be in some way affected, and few are well-positioned to weather the storm. Local, state, and federal governments are mobilizing support, but if benefits are not delivered equitably, polarization and inequality will increase as the crisis progresses — and last long after it has ended.
Through analysis and conversations, we at Dalberg have been tracking the trajectory of what recovery could look like in the U.S. Among the small business owners we’ve spoken to, those affected by closures are feeling beholden to landlords, burning through savings, and wary of taking on new loans. Many have laid off their entire workforce. Keeping their businesses afloat through this crisis will require unprecedented measures.
It’s clear from speaking with these business owners that a one-size-fits all recovery will not work. A diversity of businesses run by people from a variety of backgrounds and economic situations demand more. And America’s smallest businesses — those employing 20 or fewer people — will be the hardest hit. These businesses are disproportionately minority-owned and operate with substantially smaller cash buffers. This is also true of small businesses of all sizes operating in majority African American and Latinx communities. According to a recent study by the JP Morgan Chase Institute, over 90% of such businesses have cash buffers of fewer than 14 days. By contrast, small businesses in majority white neighborhoods are better positioned — just 35% have such small cash buffers.
Some, like Michael Brady, the executive director of the Third Avenue Business Improvement District in New York City’s South Bronx neighborhood, predict that without substantial relief, 50% of retail stores with less than 20 employees could be gone within three weeks.
The outsized risk to businesses in minority communities is real, and it is why Dalberg has developed four straightforward principles to guide an equitable approach to small business recovery across the U.S.
1. BEND EXISTING SYSTEMS, DON’T LET THEM BREAK
“Non-essential” businesses in large swaths of the country have been closed for nearly two weeks with no end in sight. With April rent due and payroll looming, a staggering number are teetering on the brink.
The smallest businesses in the hardest hit segments — restaurants, bars, and retail — are most vulnerable. Without substantial assistance, many of these establishments — and a commensurate portion of the 20 million jobs they represent — will disappear.
There is no time to build from scratch. Initially, we must intervene wisely, and use existing systems to provide immediate relief to these businesses. They need eviction and foreclosure moratoriums, rent forgiveness, loan forbearance, cash grants and more. The CARES Act, signed into law last Friday, is a huge step. Complementary state and local actions also play a key role. Still, more assistance will be needed. John Perkins, the owner of Juniper Restaurant in St. Louis, which remains open for takeout only, described the urgency he is feeling,
It’s like hiking up a mountain in the winter — you want to lay down in the snow, but your partner is like ‘don’t do it, you’ll never wake up again.’ I feel like we are at that moment — if I close the restaurant, will I ever turn the lights back on?
2. OFFER GRANTS, IN ADDITION TO LOANS
Building the crisis response and recovery around loan programs alone will significantly disadvantage the smallest and minority-owned businesses. Integrating robust small business grants into any further stimulus would provide more equitable results.
Even in normal times, minority-led small businesses are 30% less likely to apply for loans and are three times more likely to fear being denied. Add to this the stifling economic uncertainty of the current moment and it’s no wonder the owners we spoke with had mixed feelings about low, zero interest, and even forgivable loans like those to be issued under the CARES Act’s new Paycheck Protection Program. Given their current inability to forecast or plan, these entrepreneurs are not confident they can use the money productively and are wary of forgivability clauses. Some have never managed a business with debt. Pepe Kehm, the owner of Peno Italian Soul Food in St. Louis, Missouri expressed this concern,
Some of the other stuff you mentioned like trying to get loans, grants, and other things, I’ve never done because I’ve never had to. I’m sure people do and they are good at that, but I’m not one of them.
We estimate that the $350B allocated to the Paycheck Protection Program, while massive, can cover only a quarter of the total potential demand from businesses. A first come, first served disbursement approach will disproportionately flow to larger businesses that have access to sophisticated law and accounting firms. Smaller businesses will need more hands-on assistance, and as a result, many will struggle to access the first tranche of support before funds run out.
3. PROVIDE SIMPLE & STREAMLINED ACCESS TO SUPPORT
Programs must be easy to understand and access. There are now dozens of different economic bailout and recovery programs. Dan Snyder, founder of Corridor, a boutique clothing design and retail company based in NYC, doesn’t worry about the complexity: “We’ll be applying for everything. I have a retail accountant who will tell me what to do.” But others cannot afford such advice and will struggle to stay up to date with assistance programs while simultaneously trying to reinvent their businesses.
Moreover, women-owned small businesses may disproportionately struggle to navigate this web of support. Our own research shows that women have significantly less time to dedicate to work than men, given the heavier burden they carry in terms of unpaid household and family care work. This is exacerbated by social distancing with children home from school and elderly relatives unable to help. Lise Epperlein Mulderig, owner of CaptureShowroom, a wholesale clothing showroom in Manhattan, explained,
I’m all of a sudden filling a role that I never actually wanted — this full-time stay at home mom who’s home-schooling her children, while trying to keep her business from imploding.
To ensure equity, policymakers need to simplify their programs to the maximum extent possible, in some cases sacrificing efficiency to maximize reach. National and state networks of small business assistance centers must also accelerate efforts to help less sophisticated businesses meet requirements and access programs.
4. BUILD TOWARD A MORE EQUITABLE, SUSTAINABLE & RESILIENT FUTURE
It’s a good wake up call for all of us to reinvent how we live and work and consume. Hopefully, when it starts again, we’ll take some lessons from this pandemic and not start all over again with the same mistakes.Alexis Jacot, owner of MIAM cafe in Miami
We have a once in a generation opportunity to transition toward a more equitable and sustainable future. We can strengthen the smallest businesses by helping them implement basic technology and build emergency planning into their operational models. We can also mitigate some of the environmental costs of doing business and accelerate our transition to a more sustainable future by investing in sectors that reduce our carbon footprint and generate new engines for growth.
It is clear that the worst impacts of COVID-19 are yet to come. At the very least, we must learn its hard-fought lessons and work toward a better and more equitable future.
Dalberg is actively looking to partner with private, public, and philanthropic actors to advance action toward a more equitable recovery for small business. For further details and to discuss collaborations, please contact Michael Mori (email@example.com) and Ben Wise (firstname.lastname@example.org).


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Sony Ericsson’s GreenHeart concept phone in the wild
The concept of environment-friendly handsets isn’t new. And Sony Ericsson is actually coming in a little bit late to the party with its GreenHeart Concept, since at least two other handset makers (Nokia and Samsung) have announced their own versions of environment-friendly phones.
But as with all good things, the GreenHeart concept deserves a second look, as it has the potential to change the way handset manufacturers assemble their products to help the environment for many years to come.
Our friends at Mobile Cowboys have managed to snag a Sony Ericsson GreenHeart concept prototype phone, and have shown it in a few live photos. It looks just like most low-end Sony Ericsson handsets, and in fact it would be hard to tell that this was actually made of recycled materials if you didn’t know from the start.
Sony Ericsson’s GreenHeart phone will have a bio-plastic housing, recycled plastic keypad, web-based manual and will come in matching environment-friendly packaging. It will also feature a so-called zero charger with 3.5mW standby power, which means it uses up less power than its current-generation counter parts.
It might still be a long time till we finally see phones derived from this concept but its day will surely come. Kudos to Sony Ericsson for taking a step in the right direction.

domain: news


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The two biggest Gulf Arab economies are already seeing inflationary pressures abate while business activity is picking up.
Charges set by non-oil companies slipped last month in the United Arab Emirates, helped by a decline in input costs, according to S&P Global. Both input cost and output price inflation slowed in Saudi Arabia.
Growth in the Saudi non-oil economy reached a 10-month high in August, with S&P’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for the kingdom rising to 57.7 from 56.3 in July. Its PMI for the UAE was at 56.7, up from 55.4 and well above the 50-mark separating growth from contraction.
In Egypt, where S&P suggested inflation is slowing, the index rose to 47.6 in August, the highest reading since February, from 46.4 in July.
A drop in fuel prices in the UAE contributed to the country’s first decrease in input costs since January 2021. “The data offers hope for other countries struggling with persistent inflation, although concerns remain that global energy supply constraints will continue to push prices higher,” said David Owen, economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence.
The upswing in the region stands in contrast to a slowdown in much of the world economy. At the same time, prices for key raw materials — from oil to copper and wheat — have cooled in recent weeks and supply chains are starting to recover from the pandemic.
Price pressures in oil-rich Gulf region were already more subdued than elsewhere, thanks in part to limits on domestic fuel costs in some states.
In the UAE, input costs in the non-oil economy soared to an 11-year high earlier this year, according to S&P. Neighbouring Saudi Arabia, which is on track to be this year’s fastest-growing economy in the Group of 20, is also benefiting from a moderation in global commodities prices.
Saudi charge inflation saw one of the “most marked” monthly slowdowns in the series history, while the overall rise in selling charges was “only slight” and the softest since February, S&P said. Employment levels in the kingdom rose for a fifth month, though at a slower pace than in July. Business confidence remained “firmly upbeat,” according to S&P.
By contrast, UAE non-oil firms turned less optimistic and sentiment fell to its lowest in almost one-and-a-half years, in part because of “increased uncertainty about the health of the global economy,” S&P said.
In Egypt, business activity weakened – but at the slowest pace since the Russia-Ukraine crisis. Output and new orders increased with signs price increases were easing for companies.
“August saw the key PMI metrics move in the right direction,” Owen said, citing the second monthly increase in a row and the continuing decline in prices from recent peaks. Egypt’s statistics agency is due to announce August inflation data later this month.
While new orders decreased at the softest rate since April, a lack of raw material supplies had constrained total output. Weak market conditions, high inflation and sustained supply problems had dampened overall sentiment. “Monetary policy uncertainty, a weakening exchange rate, and the continued crisis in Ukraine mean there are still high levels of risk for the economy over the rest of 2022,” Owen said.


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Audi is moving very fast to change the design language of its new cars and inculcate new technology into them. The efforts have started bearing fruit and Audi has revealed the third model under the Prologue series that will inspire the future cars in terms of the design. The new Prologue Allroad concept revealed ahead of its global debut at the upcoming 2015 Shanghai Motor Show will join the Audi Prologue DB9 Concept and the Audi Prologue Avant concept.
Image Gallery - Audi Prologue All-road concept
Snapshot: Here is a detailed image gallery of the recently revealed Audi Prologue all-road concept. It will join the Prologue Avant and Prologue DB9 concept.
Related car news
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// John Lewis preparing for a phased reopening after the government said non-essential shops could open again from June 15
// It did not confirm when all the John Lewis stores would reopen
// Preparations have been “informed” by social distancing measures at stablemate Waitrose
John Lewis Partnership has said it is preparing for a phased reopening of its department stores after the UK Government said non-essential shops can reopen from June 15.
The company did not confirm an exact opening date, nor did it confirm how many John Lewis stores would open again after reports emerged last month that it was “highly unlikely” all 50 would reopen and that discussions had started on which ones to close permanently.
Nonetheless, the partnership said its preparations to reopen John Lewis sites have been “informed” by social distancing measures at stablemate Waitrose, which have traded throughout the pandemic.
- Coronavirus: John Lewis reveals changes in shopping habits
- John Lewis may never reopen some stores post lockdown
- John Lewis hands near-£1m payout to former boss Paula Nickolds
John Lewis Partnership took the initiative to temporarily close its stores – for the first time ever – a few days before the government announced a nationwide lockdown March 24.
The government has now said department stores are among non-essential retailers that will be able to exit lockdown and open to customers from June 15.
John Lewis Partnership said it would reduce the number of entrances and cap the number of shoppers in its John Lewis stores as part of new safety measures.
It also said it would have “customer service hosts” who will be assigned to welcome customers, answer questions and manage queues in busy areas of shops.
In addition, John Lewis said it would reduce the availability of customer services, such as beauty services, which will no longer be offered, while fitting rooms will also be shut until further notice.
“Our plan sees us open our shops on a phased basis to enable us to test the changes we are introducing and ensure the best and safest customer and partner experience,” John Lewis Partnership said in a statement.
“The safety of our customers and partners will govern everything we do and we are prepared to readjust our plan and make changes as we go to make sure we get it absolutely right and continue adhering to evolving government guidelines.”
Last month, the retail group warned John Lewis annual sales could plunge by 35 per cent in a worst-case scenario as a result of the outbreak.
with PA Wires


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‘Korea offers global test bed for new businesses’
This is the first in a series of roundtable discussions with alumni of top MBA schools. — ED.
By Bahk Eun-ji
Korean consumers are choosy in product and service selection and fast-changing in preferences, offering foreign businesses a chance to use the market as a test bed before global launch.
This is the view shared by three noted executives of foreign business operations in Korea during recent roundtable discussions in the first in a series inviting graduates of top MBA schools.
BMW Korea CEO Kim Hyo-joon, Home plus Executive Vice President Seol Do-won and Intel Korea CEO President Lee Hee-sung participated.
“Korean consumers are the fastest responders to new products and services, ” Kim said. “For instance, Korea is often the second market after Germany for a new product launch.” This strategy aims at taking advantage of Korean consumers’ unique characteristics so as to make adjustments before taking the product global.
Kim said that China and Japan are too big to serve this purpose and Korea’s unique market makes it more valuable than just another export market.
Kim’s BMW operations are a perennial leader in Korea’s imported car sales ahead of Mercedes Benz and Audi and is regarded as an exemplary case back in Munich.
Kim added that this environment makes for good MBA schools and his alma mater excels among them.
Home plus Executive Vice President Seol went a step further, saying that efforts should be doubled to globally share Korea’s wealth of business experiences from the perspective of successes and failures.
“I believe it’s high time to establish a Korean style of business studies including MBA programs,” he said.
“We have already foremost multinational conglomerates such as Samsung Group that have been very successful to draw attention globally. So it’s literally the right time to raise our reputation through improving academic programs.” he said.
Seol pointed out that Korean style of MBA program can be more focused on teaching integrated business management such as the ultimate goal, core values and strategies for which companies seeking at a time when the program in Western countries are focused on separated functionalism such as marketing, operation management, finance and accounting.
“There are many excellent CEOs and executives in Korea who put more emphasis on big picture when they operate companies. This means the frame of thinking is different from Westerners when it comes to business operations,” Seol said.
Intel Korea head Lee noted that Korea’s unrivalled feature comes from service qualities.
“Service-oriented corporate culture can be another distinct feature in Korea,” Lee said.
“The quality of customer service is much more advanced than any other countries from hotel to after-service of home appliances. And this will be the key point of selling premium products in global market.” Lee said.
However, observers contend that there are still some issues to resolve in order to make an outstanding improvement for Korean business schools.
For example, a case study is one of the most important programs for business schools. It is like a customer trying a demo program with which people can learn if it would be suitable for them before they purchase some software.
In order to entice more global talents to Korea, it is necessary to have more interesting stories with regard to Korean companies but the hitch is that they are reluctant to disclose their information.
“Companies usually don’t want to reveal their cases, because they think it’s too risky to reveal them to the public, especially to local business schools,” said Suh at Yonsei University.
“What is more irrational for me is that the companies, which refused to share their business cases before, are willing to share it with prestigious schools abroad such as Harvard Business School.” Seol assumed that the executives of Korean companies think if their cases are introduced by Harvard, it will be helpful for their reputation. On the other hand, they think that it will be a revelation of corporate secrets in case they share cases with Korean schools.
“When I went to London a week ago, I met a professor from an MBA program of Babson College, who has prepared for publishing a book about Korean market. He had visited and stayed Korea for three weeks in order to collect information and to do interviews with Korean clients and workers of conglomerates.” said Seol.
“And that means exactly that Korean business style is useful in the global market. So it’s hard to understand why Korean companies are hesitant to open their own stories as Korean professors are the best knowledgeable about Korean business environment.” Seol said.


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Google’s forthcoming Pixel Tablet could ship with an official stylus certified by the USI
What you should be aware of
- The Universal Stylus Initiative has certified the Pixel-branded tablet of Google.
- This is thought to be an Android tablet that was announced at the I/O event by Google during it’s I/O event.
- The certification means that the forthcoming Google Pixel Tablet will ship with a stylus that is compatible with USI.
At the Hardware I/O conference, Google formally confirmed its return to the tablet market following seven years of hiatus. Google also revealed the design of its forthcoming tablet but a little information remained a mystery including whether or not it will come with stylus.
It seems that it is likely that the Google Pixel Tablet will come with one. This tablet is part of the Universal Stylus Initiative (USI) recently certified(opens in a new tab) a Google tablet codenamed “Tangor,” according to Tech website NuGiz(opens in a new tab) (via 9to5Google(opens in a new open in new tab)).
For those who aren’t familiar, USI is an alliance of companies with the goal to establish a common standard to allow interoperable active pen devices across a variety of touchscreen devices such as tablets, phones as well as computers. In the year 2018, Google joined the initiative.
The certification, however, doesn’t mention Google’s Pixel brand, and there’s nothing to show that it is referring to the forthcoming Pixel tablet, which was teased recently by Google.
9to5Google announced it was the Pixel Tablet will be the first Android device to an interface for USI standard, in the event that it can be used by consumers before.
Since Google will not launch its tablet in 2023 the device isn’t available for purchase until 2023, so there’s not any information available currently. But, Rick Osterloh, Google’s senior vice head of services and devices, recently declared that the device will become”the “most intelligent tablet in the world.”
There has been speculation since then to circulate suggesting that the slate may feature some sort of smart home feature However, the details remain hazy.
The only thing that is certain is that Pixel Tablet will be powered by Google’s own Tensor chipset that will allow it to compete with the top Android tablets available.


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In response, some insiders said that Qianan intended to use wechat and Alipay to promote its OTC transactions in China.
Alipay and WeChat pay again
In October 10th, Alipay Security Center announced in micro-blog that Alipay was prohibited from trading in virtual currency. If it was discovered that transactions involved bitcoin or other virtual currency transactions, Alipay would immediately stop payment related services. For merchants involved in virtual currency transactions, they will be resolutely withdrawn; for individual accounts suspected of virtual currency transactions, according to the circumstances to take restrictive account collection function, or even permanent restrictions on receipts and other treatment measures.
Subsequently, Wechat Payment also showed a direct unwelcome attitude. Wechat Payment claims that Wechat Payment does not support virtual currency transactions, nor has it ever opened virtual currency category merchants access. If any action of using Wechat payment for virtual currency transaction is found, it will be refunded. At the same time, users are welcome to report, we will resolutely cooperate with the fight in accordance with the relevant regulatory provisions. We will resolutely protect the legitimate rights and interests of customers, prevent and control financial crimes, and maintain the order of the financial market.
The reporter noted that the previous relevant information about Alipays virtual currency transactions should also be traced back to the first half of the year.
In January this year, Alipay said it had checked and closed about 3000 accounts in virtual currency transactions. At that time, Alipay also stressed that for users who illegally use Alipay to carry out virtual currency transactions, Alipay would impose penalties on accounts such as restricted receipts once verified.
As far as Wechat payment is concerned, as early as May this year, a new article has been added in the revised Wechat Payment Service Agreement: No direct or disguised engagement in Internet gambling, pornographic platform, Internet lottery platform, illegal foreign exchange, precious metal investment and trading platform, illegal securities and futures trading platform, token issuance and financing and virtual currency trading platform, nor without supervision. The Department approves to carry out the asset management business through the Internet and the bulk commodity trading places without the approval of the provincial government. Otherwise, TenPay has the right to terminate the payment and settlement services for them. The revised agreement will come into force on May 31, 2019.
u25cf seven departments including the central bank and the CSRC jointly issued documents to stop the issuance of ICO.
u25cf since then, bitcoin China, fire coin network and okcoin bank have announced to stop all digital asset to RMB transactions.
In terms of payment channels, WeChat and Alipay have stepped up the transaction of restricted virtual currencies. Baidu has also closed down a number of related post bars, including currency bar, digital currency, virtual currency, etc.
Suspected to be directed against the Yuanan Incident
The sudden announcement made the currency circle panic. Why did Alipay and WeChat suddenly mention the transaction of virtual currency again? Whats wrong with this?
In this regard, Alipay and Wechat did not clearly point out the reasons, but there is a mainstream interpretation of the industry - this is not unrelated to the recent high-profile announcement of return to the Chinese market by Yuan An.
On September 23, the coin circle self media shouted that coin safety should attack the domestic market in an all-round way. According to the news, the community of other cities in Shenzhen will also be quickly built after the establishment of the Yuan LOGO Club. At the meeting of fans in Shanghai on September 22, he said that the current policy is getting better. He said that at the end of October, he will issue RMB legal OTC, and he will start to be a domestic community.
A person familiar with the matter told the International Finance Daily that recently, Yuan invited OTC merchants to Qingchengshan to hold a meeting with the intention of launching OTC transactions.
On October 9, coin Safety announced the opening of OTC trading function. A money security user asked twitter to ask whether the money is being accepted by Alipay and WeChat, and attached to its Android App screenshot, including bank card, WeChat and Alipay option, and currency CEO CEO (CZ) was confirmed on Twitter.
Soon, an interesting scene took place. In order to emphasize the position, Alipays expedition Twitter, in the founder of Zhao Changpeng, confirmed to Alipay that he could use Alipay to conduct bitcoin transactions, replied: No, you can not.
In the evening of October 10th, reporters also received a screenshot of a user who claimed to have been frozen by Alipay account due to the experience of currency OTC.
On October 9, he Yi, co-founder of Yuanan, published a micro-blog saying that there was no cooperation between Yuanan OTC and Weixin Payment and Alipay Officials; at present, Yuans OTC is the C2C model like Youshang Huoqian and OKEX.
A virtual currency investor told the international finance daily that at present, virtual currency transactions were carried out on the numeral currency trading platform represented by the currency. The main trading methods still had bank cards, WeChat payments and Alipay, and whether Alipay accounts were frozen after successful trading, depending on whether the transaction was monitored by the relevant payment platform side.
(International Finance Journal reporter Huang Xi)
Source: responsible editor of International Finance Daily: Yang Bin_NF4368


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In May, 10 MED opened its representative office in Osaka, Japan. Japan is one of the largest and the most important regional hubs for our company’s operations.
Through a partnership with dietary supplement manufacturer Godproduct and the largest manufacturer of cosmetic and pharmaceutical ingredients Ichimaru Pharcos, we expect to launch the production of our own brand.
After the launch our products will be available to customers in Russia and around the world.
Contact details of 10 MED office in Japan:
Address: 〒541-0042 大阪府大阪市中央区７ 大阪府中央区 今橋1-7-14 宗田ビル5F (Imabashi 1-7-14, Osaka, 541-0042 Japan)
Tel: +81 6-4963-2898


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Mortgages become a loss leader
One way banks are replacing lending income is by pushing financial products through their retail channels. Here’s what Franklin Techar, head of Canadian Banking at Bank of Montreal (USA) (NYSE:BMO), had to say on his company’s strategy:
“…our 5-year fixed 25-year am [amortization] mortgage product was very successful last year in bringing new customers into the company. And in fact, every — for everyone that took that product last year, about 40% of them were new customers to BMO. And for those new customers coming into BMO, we sold an excess of two other products to them…. And as we continue to bring those customers in, I have a huge amount of confidence in our sales capabilities in our branches at this point.”
Bank of Montreal took a lot of criticism for its 2.99% 5-year fixed mortgage last year. It appeared to investors that the offering did little to improve market share while squeezing margins. But BMO is using its mortgage products as a loss leader, like a grocery store, to court new customers in hopes of selling them higher margin products within branches.
Foolish bottom line
This was a strong quarter for the Big 5 reporting a combined $7.33 billion in profits. Many skeptics, myself included, have been looking for a slowdown in core retail lending. But with almost every company in this space posting double-digit growth, I may have to re-evaluate my bear thesis.
The article 3 Can’t-Miss Quotes for Bank Investors This Earnings Season originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Robert Baillieul.
Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.


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Sonic Foundry Inc. on Monday rolled out a new version of its rich media communications system for Webcasting, content publishing, and online presentations. Enhancements to the system include automated workflow and improved scalability, mobile application support and support for Macintosh platforms.
Sonic Foundry's Mediasite Live gives enterprises and educational environments a hardware and software package with which to create and deliver rich media over the Web or burned to a CD. Unlike services that involve costly preparation and post-production processes, Mediasite Live is a plug-and-play box that can capture, synchronize, stream, and archive online presentations in real-time, according to company officials.
Furthermore, many enterprises are forcing small group collaboration services such as WebEx, PlaceWare, and Raindance to fit large group presentation needs, much to the detriment of the bottom line, according to James Dias, vice president of marketing and sales at Sonic Foundry.
"A lot of corporations use WebEx or PlaceWare, but those tools are optimized for small group collaboration. Some companies have been using those [services] for large group information sharing. That is very expensive, because you pay license fees, per-seat charges, and phone bridge charges," he said. "We do one-to-many, large-group information sharing."
New automated operation and workflow capabilities include automated indexing and publishing of images, automated publishing for unicast and multicast delivery, and automated capture and posting of media assets for on-demand access.
As part of the updated release, Sonic Foundry added two new hardware configurations. Mediasite LiveRL Capture Station is a rack-mount or cart-based system for large conference rooms, auditoriums, or lecture halls. In real time, it lets users integrate content from a range of media sources for both live and on-demand applications. Mediasite LiveM Capture Station, designed for mobile applications, is a portable system that can transform from a briefcase to a rich media capture appliance in less than one minute, said Sonic Foundry officials.
Sonic Foundry is gaining its highest traction in medical, technical, and engineering industries, where a graphic component is often a requirement for large-scale communications, Dias said.
"Now they can bypass the production bottlenecks and still get rich media content put together quickly," he said.


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Boston Cab Dispatch Inc. said Tuesday that it’s suing Uber, the company that allows users to hail limos and taxis from their smartphones. The dispatch […]
It’s a juxtaposition worthy of Dickens for Uber today: the car-service company announced it is shutting down its taxi-hailing service in New York City, even […]
Uber, the smartphone-operated black car service, is celebrating its move into taxis by offering free taxi rides up to $25 to everyone in the Boston […]
Massachusetts wasn’t the first or last place where the on-demand livery car service Uber ran into trouble with regulators, and that’s in part because Uber’s […]
Photo via Thinkstock Yesterday, in a move highlighting Massachusetts’ breathtaking bureaucratic idiocy, the state decided to shut down a new car service business called Uber. […]


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By Victoria Gaither
How long has Beth Roberts, the owner and founder of Killington Boot Camp, been in the fitness business?
“My mom will tell you that it goes back to when I was 5 years old. I would invite the neighborhood kids over to run obstacle courses in my backyard,” smiled Roberts.
Little did she know that she would run a different type of obstacle course later in life — trying to beat Covid-19.
“In March of 2020, I was two days away from hopping on my flight to Costa Rica to host a fitness retreat in Tamarindo when the world basically shut down. Instead of teaching boot camp on the beach, I learned how to Zoom bodyweight HIIT classes from my living room,” she recalled.
Looking back then and now, Roberts said her strong will, ability to adapt, and clients pulled her through the madness of Covid.
Trying to run a business when Governor Phil Scott shut down many businesses, implemented mandatory masking and other mitigation strategies, covid testings, the loss of business and the stresses of day-to-day operations, wasn’t easy.
“Every time a new challenge was presented, I had to find a new way to reach people and help them feel comfortable in their new socially distanced training situation,” she said. Adding, “I found myself in a variety of situations: Zoom classes, small group, and private training wearing masks as well as socially distanced outdoor classes.”
Although used to things being thrown her way, Roberts was often burdened by the uncertainty, like many other Killington business owners.
Take Dan Sesko, owner of Taco X in Killington. He opened Taco X in December of 2019 and then had to shut down a few months later in March 2020 due to Covid.
For a new business owner, the timing couldn’t have been worse. He had quit his financial job, took a leap of faith, and started Taco X.
“I was in an internal struggle. Do I keep the business or let it go? The SBA package came in! Great! Not so great — it didn’t work out because of wrong timing. I got disqualified because I couldn’t compare prior year sales as a new business,” he explained.
Sesko, a very matter-of-fact person, obtained a federal grant that pulled him through. Still, like other restaurant owners, his “new normal” was obstacles after obstacles.
“Going forward in this ‘new normal,’ I had to adapt to new restrictions. Mandatory masks, social distancing, reduced occupancy restrictions, and sign-in sheets for contact tracing were implemented,” he recalled.
Plus, many people were still leary about eating out.
Throw in higher food prices, supply shortages, delivery delays, and worker shortages, which all hit his bottom line. But still, he kept pushing through.
Like a strong margarita, Sesko found the will and determination to keep going and help others. He once housed five Peruvian J-1 students at the start of the pandemic.
“I was approached by five Peruvian J-1 students who were stranded, wanted to work, and had no place to live. I gave them a few odd and end jobs and housed them for two weeks until their quarantine period was over, and they could travel back to their own country,” he said.
Even through the difficult times, good has emerged for Dan Sesko and Beth Roberts.
Sesko now feels like a part of the Killington community, “I can definitely say that since the Covid-19 pandemic started, and now, I went from the new guy (business owner) on the mountain to being part of the community and getting the support of the local business community. It feels nice to get to know the people on a more personal level.”
As for Roberts, she is now planning Adventures in Paradise 2, a fitness retreat in Kauai, Hawaii, from Oct. 15-20, 2022, and hoping this time she gets on the flight and is not grounded by another obstacle.


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There is nothing like a New York pizza. Creating that authentic taste and crunch has been a challenge for restaurants outside the Big Apple.
That could soon change, however. A New Jersey company says it has invented a way to create New York City water anywhere in the world, and that, according to myth, is one of the keys to making a great pizza.
"We literally are changing the molecular structure, changing the molecule of the water to replicate New York City water," said Paul Errigo of New York WaterMaker.
There's a buzz ahead of New York WaterMaker's unveiling of it's water replication and filtration system Tuesday at a pizza trade show in Las Vegas.
"We've had a prototype for over nine months in the field, and we have a great testimonial," Errigo said.
It is widely believed that the city's water is one the reasons why some New York foods, like pizza and bagels, taste so good.
"Some cities, they take the water from here to other cities to make the pizza," said Edgar Rivera, manager of Stella's Pizza.
But will the water bring the dough?
"Well, I don't know how they can do it, but if they can, well, let's see," Rivera said.
The system will cost restaurant owners about $2,800 a year to lease. It is not for sale.
John Notaro has been a pizza maker in SoHo for nearly 50 years.
"If you want to mix New York recipe in Florida, it might not work because of the situation with the water, but if you are a professional, you can work around," he said.
Notaro says it's all in the recipe, but the head of New York WaterMaker says there is no authenticity without the city's H2O.
"We matched all of the characteristics that New York has, which makes the food in New York City so great," Errigo said.
The company's chief executive says over time, he will be able to prove it's the water that is the main ingredient.


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Xiaomi’s CES announcement roundup! TVs, Routers and more!
We’ve come to the end of Xiaomi CES announcement, and as usual, we’ve got a set of products to talk about. And honestly, what a weird set of products for Xiaomi CES to launch, at Xiaomi CES nonetheless. The new products are launched by Xiaomi CES 2017. What we can say that the products launch by Xiaomi CES.


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Reclining leather seats, a 42-inch television screen and stencils of bright red marijuana leaves illuminate the back of 420 Tours’ sport utility vehicle. The SUV, along with a 30-foot bus, are used by Nevada’s first cannabis tour company, which takes people looking for a medical marijuana card and legal pot from street corner to dispensary in less than an hour.
Using the app EaseMD, 420 Tours founder Drew Gennuso connects pre-screened passengers who have a California ID or U.S. passport with a California doctor, live over video chat, in the back seat of the “Cannabus” SUV. The patients, frequently picked up on the Strip, describe their symptoms, receive a doctor’s recommendation printed on the spot and are taken to a Las Vegas dispensary of their choice.
“It’s a way to impact and support the medicinal cannabis industry,” Gennuso said. “We just want to educate people and make them aware of the options available.”
And it’s perfectly legal.
Nearly three years after landmark legislation legalized medical marijuana dispensaries in Nevada, patients and licensed business owners remain trapped in a grueling application process that keeps legal pot unattainable to many in the state.
And while Nevada patients and retailers stumble through the state’s red tape, entrepreneurs are cashing in on Nevada’s reciprocity laws, which allow out-of-state patients to play here by their own states’ more lenient rules. [Read more at the Las Vegas Sun]


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Lucid Air EV Might Have Tesla’s Longest Range Beat by More Than 100 Miles
A test on an EPA testing protocol turned a 517-mile range.
As of today, Tesla is the only member of the 400-mile-range electric car club, with its Model S Long Range Plus squeaking in with a 402-mile range. But soon, it may have to draw up chairs for Mercedes-Benz—whose EQS sedan could offer up to a 435-mile range—and fellow Californian EV startup Lucid Motors, which claims to have not only broken to 400-mile barrier, but busted the 500-mile door down too in independent testing.
In a release issued Tuesday morning, Lucid states that its upcoming luxury sedan, simply named the Air, achieved the equivalent of 517 miles on a full charge. This result was allegedly attained by vehicle testing firm FEV North America on a test that "closely follows" the EPA's Multi Cycle Test Procedure, specifically the SAE J1634 standard introduced in October 2012.
Correction 8/13/20 1:00 p.m. EST: This story originally claimed Lucid Air’s third-party range test used outdated methodology. A Lucid spokesperson provided The Drive with evidence that our statement was wrong, therefore this story has been corrected to reflect such information. The update acknowledges that SAE J1634 2012 remains the EPA’s current standard for testing electric vehicles. Per a Lucid spokesperson, "the only difference in the updated J1634 2017 version versus 2012, is the portion related to battery depletion. Essentially J1634 2017 makes the test run slightly shorter. There is no difference in energy consumption calculation so the results are essentially the same."
Lucid claims the Air's supposedly miraculous range is the result of a high-efficiency, 900-volt electric powertrain, which is 100 volts higher than that used in the Porsche Taycan, and the highest yet seen in a passenger vehicle. The automaker also boasts of its advanced battery management, which it refined via its tech subsidiary Atieva; joint supplier of Formula E's current battery packs with McLaren Advanced Technologies.
Lucid explains that the Air was tested according to current North American EV standards, which still adhere to the SAE's J1634 protocols. Lucid says its test was run using the older, 2012-standard methodology, which is the same one used by its main competitors.
Lucid Motors promises to reveal a production-ready Air on September 9—hopefully with an official EPA rating, which should be found on FuelEconomy.gov when established.
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Looking to charge the iPhone 8 or X wirelessly? These are the best charging pads and accessories to get the job done.
The new iPhone X has massive screen and hardware upgrades. But it still needs a protective case if you want it to survive its first month in your pocket.
Apple CEO Tim Cook confirmed that it is, indeed, the “iPhone ten” at the official product launch on Tuesday, heralding a confusing future for the nomenclature of the device.
Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, just bought a majority stake in The Atlantic. Here’s a look at the billionaire’s net worth.
This morning, the official Twitter account for WikiLeaks promoted the newest “Vault 7” leak. Titled “Dark Matter,” the leak promises information on “several CIA projects that infect Apple Mac Computer” and iPhones. When will it be released?
A Pokemon Go app has been released for Apple Watch. How does it measure distance? Can you lock your phone and still have it count your footsteps?


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The Campbell Soup Company continues to be a bit of a rebel in the food industry, stirring the pot in recent months by being one of the first companies to back GMO labeling and advocating the removal of BPA from its can linings. To continue this strategy, unlock its purpose and forge future growth, Campbell President and CEO Denise Morrison outlines four strategic imperatives to strengthen business:
- Elevate trust through real food, transparency and sustainability
- Build digital and e-commerce capabilities
- Continue to diversify Campbell’s portfolio in health and well-being with fresh, organic and healthful foods
- Expand Campbell’s presence in developing markets.
“Over the last five years, we’ve taken a number of bold steps to reposition the company for not just profitable, but sustainable growth,” Morrison says. “Our progress has been methodical. We’ve improved our company and shifted our center of gravity. But we have higher aspirations for the food we make, the role we play in people’s lives and improving our growth trajectory. That’s why it’s necessary to continue to relentlessly improve ourselves, our food, our business and our culture to further differentiate Campbell and to forge a meaningful and lasting place in the lives of new generations of consumers.”
One of the ways the company looks to achieve this is to elevate transparency. Campbell outlines how its real food philosophy is changing how it thinks and acts about its food, helping to restore consumers’ connection to food and supporting the company’s goal to set the standard for transparency in the food industry. “We believe real food should be made with recognizable, desirable ingredients from plants or animals. It should be responsibly crafted using ethical sourcing and sustainable practices that safeguard natural resources. Lastly, it should always be delicious, safe and available at a fair price—all three without compromise,” Morrison says.
Recently, the company has undergone a fundamental shift in how it thinks about food and the way it operates. Campbell has developed a scorecard called Campbell’s Real Food Index to track progress against its ingredient commitments, such as plans to remove artificial colors and flavors from its North American products by the end of 2018. The Index can be found on www.whatsinmyfood.com.
Campbell also says it will use only antibiotic-free chicken in its products, a shift that will be implemented over the next few years.
The company also plans to expand its offerings in the faster-growing health and well-being space with a focus on key growth areas, such as packaged-fresh innovation and expanding organic and clean label offerings.
Outside the US, Campbell is looking to expand its presence in developing markets. Luca Mignini, president, global biscuits and snacks, highlights Campbell’s strategy to capture a bigger piece of the growing snacks market by expanding its brand footprint across faster-growing channels and geographies, particularly in Asia. In China, Campbell intends to increase marketing efforts behind its Kjeldsens brand in its key markets of Shanghai and Guangdong province while expanding its distribution in key regions in the East and adding distributors in the South. The company plans to build its e-commerce capabilities in China to extend the Kjeldsens brand of butter cookies as well as to launch Tim Tam biscuits and Goldfish snack crackers.
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We desperately want to see a new device to come out this year. We are seeing reports, speculations and rumors related to iPhone or iPads all the time but we aren’t able to say which one is true. Apple still keeps itself quiet about the upcoming devices and leaving us only to expect what will be released next. Right after we see numerous reports about the iPad Mini and iPad 5th generation, this new report only confirms that we will see two iPads by the end of this year. This is not another boring report because it’s coming from more reliable source which claims something new.
Both devices will bring new refresh later this year and are set to make their big debut. This is another suggestion that there is a very busy fall ahead of Apple. The rumors are getting heavier and we are working hard to cover them all.
The latest speculation is that Apple is set to release its 5th generation iPad in the last Q4 of this year. This comes from Bloomberg which citing on its reliable sources, claimed that Apple is working hard to make its completely new full-size iPad design that will have similarities with the current iPad Mini model. As for the iPad Mini, the source also claimed that Retina iPad Mini 2 is also into works. This comes after we saw several reports saying that we won’t see Retina iPad Mini this year and the company might produce it in Q1 of 2014.
This claim about new display tech for the iPad Mini is claiming that we will see doubled resolution feature on the display while leaving the same physical size. For those who seek physical change, Apple won’t do it because the iPad Mini 2 won’t work with the existing software. Bloomberg wasn’t the only company that reported this change. The Wall Street Journal also reported the same claim. The same source mentioned that it’s still undisclosed if Apple’s display suppliers could make it on time to ship displays to Apple in order to get the device ready for this year.
Redesigned and thinner iPad is also expected this year and this rumor was strengthened with several replacement parts which were seen on the Web. It was said that these parts are from the 5th generation iPad and included the glass touch panel. Bloomberg had some interesting theory that we will see redesigned iPad 5 because this device wasn’t change since the iPad 2 if we exclude the lightening charging port.
Apple must bring something new with its iPad device because the June quarter gave results that were under Apple’s expectations. This company has sold 14.6 million iPads while they were expecting more than 18 million units. Apple has covered its iPad sales with the unexpected stronger sales of the iPhone 5 but still this drop was highly notable. Along with this new iPad claims, we saw a report that said we could expect the iPhone 5S along the budget iPhone 5C to be released on September 10. This report was followed by AllThingsD, Bloomberg and The Loop. If the history repeats, Apple is expected to have 2 split-up events in order to unveil the iPhones and iPads separately.
These devices might be just around the corner for releasing and only one thing is for sure, the next iPads and iPhones will have the iOS 7.
Share your expectations of these devices in the comments section bellow.


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Google plans to integrate New Bluetooth functions and GPS capabilities to Android Wear later this year, reports CNET. The update will make it so that users can listen to music stored directly on their smartwatch via Bluetooth headphones. What’s more, the GPS feature will make it so that wearers can use their device track runs… Read more »
LG earlier this year made a pledge to stop the yearly release schedule of its smartphones. It was a bold but thoughtful and understandable...


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Saks gives hurt dancer ... retail therapy! - 0 Comments
Gutsy dancer Adrianne Haslet-Davis made a triumphant return to Boylston Street less than a month after the marathon bombings to indulge in a much-needed day of shopping therapy, courtesy of Saks Fifth Avenue.
“Considering my life has been hospital gowns and H&M leggings, it feels really good to be back to this,” said the 32-year-old, who lost her left foot and part of her lower leg to the blasts and was recently released from Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston.
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You can now respond directly to a specific comment by clicking “reply.” All conversations stemming from one comment will have their own thread, making discussions neater and more focused. You can also vote specific comments up or down, and share them more easily on your favorite social network. Clicking “newest” in the top left of the discussion panel also sorts comments by newest, oldest, or best-rated.
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A popular grocery store in New Jersey is closing next month, leaving many residents scrambling to find a new place to do their weekly grocery shopping.
Change can be difficult, especially when it comes to our daily routines. We become creatures of habit, and the comfort of the familiar is often hard to give up. That's certainly the case with the impending closure of a popular grocery store, Superfood Town, on Route 35 in Ocean Township.
Next month, the grocery store will shut its doors for good, leaving many shoppers scrambling to find a new place to do their weekly shopping.
While the decision to close was undoubtedly complex, the store's management believes it is in the business's best interests.
While the exact reason for the closure has not been announced, it is clear that the community will significantly miss Super Foodtown.
For many people, the store was more than just a place to buy groceries; it was also a place to socialize and catch up with friends. Super Foodtown provided a much-needed sense of community in an increasingly digital world.
However, that doesn't make the transition any easier for loyal customers who have come to rely on the store for their groceries. In the coming weeks, many shoppers will be forced to confront the realities of change and adapt to a new way of life.
The store will close next month on August 13th, but the memories of its impact on the Ocean Township community will live on.
In the meantime, shoppers can find a list of other Super Foodtown locations on the company’s website.


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Times are changing for Netflix with House of Cards
Tom Dougherty, CEO – Stealing Share
3 May 2013
House of Cards ushers in original Netflix programming
It looks like House of Cards has paid off for Netflix. Times are changing for Netflix… and quickly.
The streaming service added 2 million subscribers with House of Cards, a ground-breaking political series starring Kevin Spacey. Quite a leap from the days when Netflix was being outflanked by its competition.
“It also marks a change in how Netflix will be perceived.”
It also marks a change in how Netflix will be perceived. Its brand previously was about a business model. Now its content will draw customers.
House of Cards brings in a new era
Remember when TLC was The Learning Channel? Now it features shows such as “The World’s Worst Tattoos,” which are hardly educational. Broader offerings spurred the network to simply rebrand itself as TLC.
And AMC, which a few years ago was known for airing seemingly non-stop “Die Hard” movies, now pulls in massive viewership with its gritty series lineups that include The Walking Dead and Breaking Bad. As a result, AMC’s tagline is “Something More.”
In each instance, content drove the brand. With House of Cards and other promising shows in production, look for Netflix’s brand to transform into something new.
Brand Blindnes is Brand Loyalty Tom Dougherty, CEO - Stealing Share 27 April 2017 Brand loyalty and brand blindness Did you know that brand loyalty is a form of brand blindness? Even though most of us believe we act rationally, self-identification is a form of...
ESPN layoffs next step to its doom? Tom Dougherty, CEO - Stealing Share 26 April 2017 ESPN layoffs demonstrate lack of vision The ESPN layoffs announced today came as no surprise. But it still hurts to see good people let go. The number of layoffs and length of tenure...
Research mistakes are preventable Tom Dougherty, CEO - Stealing Share 25 April 2017 Research mistakes. No excuses. Making research mistakes is easier than ever. And these blunders can mangle and mislead brands. Especially brands that are looking for opportunities to...


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Beijing LandSpace Technology Corporation Ltd. (北京蓝箭空间科技有限公司) has recently closed a 200 million yuan Series B round. The round was led by the new energy solution provider Goldwind (金凤科技), which was joined by existing investors including Shiji Tianhua, Guokai Ronghua, FounDream and PGA Venture Partners.
The latest investment, along with the several rounds the company raised before, brought its total funding to over 500 million yuan (approximately US$79 million).
LandSpace is a private rocket developer and manufacturer founded in June 2015 by a group of top technical experts from state-owned organizations. The company is working on China’s first privately funded liquid rocket engine and a medium-sized liquid oxygen (LOX)/methane-fuelled launch vehicle.
Its focus at the current stage is the development of a rocket engine powered by LOX and methane. This actually represents a trend in the commercial aerospace industry: LOX and methane are used as propellants by both SpaceX’s Raptor and Blue Origin’s BE-4. Liquid-fuel engines are more technologically demanding than engines that use solid propellants and therefore take more time to develop, but once you crack them, you nail the most important part in building a spacecraft.
In March 2018, LandSpace successfully tested the thrust chamber of its proprietary LOX/methane engine Phoenix. According to people familiar with the matter, LandSpace will conduct hot-fire tests on engines of all sizes at the end of this year, an important step towards the launch of its prototype engines.
LandSpace put into operation its R&D centers in Beijing and Xi’an in tandem after 2015. Once the LandSpace Intelligent Manufacturing Base in Huzhou starts operation, the company will see faster progress in engine development, LandSpace’s team noted.
LandSpace’s main products are medium-sized launchers powered by LOX and methane. In the next two years, the company will remain focused on the development and manufacturing of LOX/methane engines and carrier rockets. It will target the small- and medium-sized launcher market worldwide by providing standard launch services.
LandSpace plans to equip itself with the ability to independently design, manufacture, assemble and test LOC/methane engines in three years and complete the assembly and testing of its medium liquid launcher by 2020, with the goal of growing into a company with presence throughout the value chain of medium launch vehicles, from R&D, design to the final launch.
LandSpace has also developed LandSpace-1, a small, solid-fuelled four-stage launcher with a payload of 300kg and the first rocket orbital launch vehicle in China developed by a private company. It’s expected to finish production in the second half of 2018.
The business model of commercial rocket companies is simple. They design and manufacture rockets and work together with launch sites and tracking, and control companies to provide downstream clients with rocket launch services. At present, space launch remains a seller’s market as the manufacturing of carrier rockets and the launch services provided worldwide are far from meeting the demand for satellite launches.
Since the company’s team has more experience and channel resources in overseas markets, the orders it has received so far are mostly from outside China, said ZHANG Changwu, founder of LandSpace, but it has also been approached by some domestic research institutes.
LandSpace employs a team of around 140 people at the moment. Founder and CEO ZHANG Changwu is a MBA from Tsinghua University and has previously worked at HSBC and Banco Santander. Co-founder and CTO WU Shufan holds a PhD from Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He was once a scholar sponsored by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and has worked at the European Space Agency for nearly 15 years. He also served as a senior engineer at Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology.


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With the disruptions in supply chains, every company that relied on inputs from abroad has been severely impacted. It is becoming evident that the supply chain strategies that were most celebrated in pre-COVID-19 world can no longer be relied upon. For instance, the lean or the ‘just-in-time’ inventory strategies that entail manufacturers to maintain minimum raw material, may need to be revaluated. There is thus a pressing need to re-engineer the global supply chains wherein the fundamental assumptions may need to be re-examined, manufacturing bases may need to be diversified, trade channels may need to be altered, and investment destinations may see a shift.
In line with the urge to create a resilient supply chain system, the consumption-driven developed economies such as the EU, Americas and Asia are not only rethinking their business strategies, but also are beginning to look at other nations to mitigate their supply chain risks. For instance, Japan has earmarked US$ 2.2 billion economic stimulus package to help its companies shift production out of China as the pandemic disrupted supply chains between the two trading partners.
As companies look to fix their broken value chains in the short term and reduce their supply chain risks in the long term, India has an exclusive opportunity to emerge as a preferred business destination during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Recognizing this opportunity, the Honorable Prime Minister of India, in his address to the nation on 12 May 2020, laid-out his vision of an ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ (Self-reliant India) and outlined economy, infrastructure, system, demography and demand as the five pillars.
EY’s report on ‘Managing the impact of COVID-19 on India’s supply chains’ examines how can the vision of self-reliant India be realized by strengthening the social and economic pillars, while leveraging and improving the other four pillars – infrastructure, system, demography and demand. The report presents an in-depth analysis on:
- The value chains of 15 key sectors in India
- The disruptions in the sectoral value chains caused due to the COVID-19 pandemic
- The opportunities and roadmaps to re-engineer and overhaul the Indian business machinery to make the country an attractive destination for foreign and domestic value chain investments
- Sector-specific ‘possible interventions’ for the governments and private sector stakeholders – classified into short, medium and long-term categories – focused at creation of a strategic plan to return business to scale expeditiously, including building a resilient supply chain and planning for the “new normal”.
Key areas of intervention
While the report ‘Managing the impact of COVID-19 on India’s supply chains’ lists out sector-wise thought-through possible interventions, some major common areas of intervention as the economy prepares to tap on the potential opportunities being presented by the ‘New Normal’ scenario are as below:


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China introduced that it will boost tariffs imposed on about $60 billion of U.S. goods in retaliation for President Donald Trump’s most up-to-date escalation of the trade war.
The tariffs will just take influence on June 1, according to a assertion on the Ministry of Finance’s web page on Monday. The charges will thereby be lifted on most of the products outlined on a earlier retaliation checklist helpful very last September.
The yearlong trade frictions in between the world’s two most significant economies worsened last 7 days when the Trump administration declared an excess 25% tariff on countless numbers of Chinese products truly worth about $200 billion. The U.S. is established to launch a program to levy a 25% more tariff on all remaining imports from China later on Monday.
China’s retaliatory tariffs will be imposed at the pursuing degrees:
- 25% tariffs on 2,493 merchandise from present 10%
- 20% tariffs on 1,078 objects from current 10%
- 10% tariffs on 974 merchandise from existing 5%
- 5% tariffs to carry on on 595 products. Auto pieces, which have been originally on the checklist but have been exempted given that December, are nonetheless excluded
The Ministry also claimed in a further statement that importers and associations can use for exemptions for merchandise on the tariff lists. As soon as authorised, the merchandise will be excluded and won’t be subject matter to the punitive tariffs for one particular 12 months. Organizations can also get a rebate of by now paid out tariffs.
“China’s tariff move is in reaction to the U.S. unilateralism and trade protectionism,” the ministry claimed in a different assertion on Monday. “China hopes that the U.S. will return to the suitable track of bilateral trade talks, work alongside one another with China and satisfy each other halfway, to arrive at a acquire-gain and mutually beneficial agreement on the foundation of mutual respect.”


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As we’re inching towards the release of the new and upcoming Samsung Galaxy S23 series, we are receiving more information every week, claiming to be new specifications, design decisions, and other tidbits. Today, a new leak showcased the Galaxy S23 series in four new colors, and we have images displaying the alleged Galaxy S23 and the Galaxy S23 Ultra devices.
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Source: MIL-OSI Submissions
Source: Rainforest Alliance
Did you know that 70% of New Zealanders look for labels that ensure their choices are better for the environment or ensure higher animal welfare? And 67% would make eco-conscious choices, even if it is more expensive. These New Zealand sustainability insights and trends come from the Colmar-Brunton Better Futures 2020 report outlining the top concerns for New Zealand consumers in 2020, and it’s clear consumers are demanding more sustainable food options too.
Rainforest Alliance better for people and nature
The good news is that the Rainforest Alliance’s seal, the green frog, helps New Zealand consumers make choices that are better for them, for people, and for nature. And behind this seal, consumers have the confidence that there is a certified programme that is continually enhanced.
The Rainforest Alliance works with more than two million farmers around the world to produce better crops, adapt to climate change, increase their productivity, and reduce costs. In line with this commitment, the Rainforest Alliance has recently enhanced its certification programme to support farmers and help businesses to source more sustainable agricultural products through a stronger focus on continuous improvement, transparency and shared responsibility.
The new Rainforest Alliance certification programme has a stronger focus on measuring continuous improvement to help farmers and companies identify and mitigate sustainability risks and build resilience while addressing climate change and tackling deforestation. It introduces a range of innovations including supporting farmers to adopt climate-smart agricultural practices focusing on adaptation and resilience, and protection of more natural ecosystems, including forests, wetlands and peatlands, for more land to be protected and managed sustainably. The Rainforest Alliance is also using innovative technologies to monitor deforestation risk and develop strategies to address it.
Providing sustainable agricultural products isn’t only about practices on the farm. In the new certification programme buyers will have to reward producers for meeting sustainable agriculture standards by paying a mandatory ‘sustainability differential’ – an additional cash payment over and above the market price for the sale of certified crops. Buyers will also need to provide investments to support producers to achieve their sustainability objectives and be transparent about those. Companies in the supply chain identified as having a high risk of negative social and environmental impacts will also need to implement improved practices, including ensuring decent working conditions and labour protections as well as wastewater management.
“The new certification programme incorporates new tools to support farmers and companies to set clear sustainability targets and focus investments to improve positive impacts for people and nature,” says Ruth Rennie, Director of Standards and Assurance at the Rainforest Alliance. “These tools and innovations will support more resilient agriculture and help make responsible business the new normal. This is increasingly urgent in our age of climate change, biodiversity loss, and global inequality,” she added.
Independent research shows that certification has a positive environmental, social, and economic impact. Credible third-party certification systems enable businesses to demonstrate their commitment to tackling deforestation, protecting natural resources, and contributing towards a living income and decent work for producers and workers across the world.
Rainforest Alliance seal here in New Zealand
The Rainforest Alliance proudly works with several iconic New Zealand local brands such as Whittaker’s chocolate, Red Seal tea and Ti Ora – all founded in here in Aotearoa. In fact, if you check your pantry, you might find other certified products including favourite Kiwi household brands such as Moccona, Milo, Dole bananas and pineapples (available in New World and PAK’nSAVE), as well as Countdown’s own-branded bananas and chocolate products. You may also have spotted the frog seal on your coffee-on-the-go from McCafé.
· Brands that demonstrate clear sustainable benefits are winning consumers over (48% of consumers switched to a more sustainable brand option).
· Consumers want companies (and government) to take leadership and show the way (and majority is prepared to pay for it):
o 83% agree businesses aren’t doing enough to reduce environmental impact
o 70% look for claims/labels that choices I make are environmentally/animal friendly
o 67% will make eco-conscious choices, even if more expensive.
· Companies with a clearly demonstrated commitment to sustainability outperform others.
· Environmental/sustainability topics on mind: reuse, reduce, recycle, manage waste, locally sourced ingredients.
· The Rainforest Alliance has:
- over five million hectares of global farmland certified against its sustainability standards
- more than 100 projects directly benefiting farmers, forest communities, and nature
- two million hectares of land covered by integrated landscape management programmes
- 44,000 products with the Rainforest Alliance Certified™ seal or UTZ label available
- over two million farmers following Rainforest Alliance standards, designed to improve livelihoods and protect nature
- more than 400,000 certified coffee farmers; 900k+ certified cocoa farmers; 900k+ certified tea farmers; 2,000+ certified banana farmers
About the Rainforest Alliance
The Rainforest Alliance is an international non-profit organisation working in more than 70 countries at the intersection of business, agriculture, and forests. The organisation is creating a more sustainable world by using social and market forces to protect nature and improve the lives of farmers and forest communities. By bringing farmers, forest communities, companies, and consumers together, it addresses some of the most pressing social and environmental challenges of today. The organisation changes the way the world produces, sources, and consumes, with a focus on cocoa, coffee, tea, bananas, forest products, and palm oil through its certification programme, tailored supply chain services, landscape and community work, and advocacy. In 2019, more than five million hectares of land and more than two million farmers were certified according to the Rainforest Alliance or UTZ standards, which are designed to improve economic, environmental, and social sustainability. The Rainforest Alliance works toward making responsible business the new normal through our certification programme, landscape and community work, tailored supply chain services, and advocacy. The Rainforest Alliance believes that certification is one tool among many; it works best when tailored to meet farmers’ needs and when supported by long-term commitments from all actors in the supply chain.


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For a majority of trade on the stock market, High-Frequency Trading (HFT) has been responsible for a number of years, and it is important to shed some light on its role in the cryptocurrency market. Although HFT remains relatively new on the cryptocurrency market, many HFT companies that already expand their operations into the crypto-currency market have increased their growth and interest. Several giants in the crypto-monetary market, including DRW, DV Trading, Jump Trading, and Hehmeyer have already established themselves in the market. Traditionally, these companies operate in stock and are now focusing more on the cryptocurrency market by using their technology to generate profit through large orders in altcoin transactions. Financial Times reports that these leading high-frequency trading companies have swung into high-frequency crypto trading. The same report claims that several new hedge funds are also used to create positive ROIs for investors in crypto markets by using algorithmic trade strategies.
Now, more investors in cryptocurrency trading in retail and institutional cryptocurrencies are engaged. The internet has grown especially popular with high-frequency trading. It was made easier for high-frequency trading not only institutions and hedge funds but also ordinary retail investors. For higher frequency crypto traders, crypto could be the next large area for growth.
Special trading tools used by High-frequency traders are dark pools and dark pools of Liquidity. A dark pool is a liquidity pool that the general public cannot access. High-frequency traders can do substantial business using dark pools without alerting the rest of the market. Dark pools enable traders to receive liquidity without transparency from a major exchange. Other investors are making trades out of sight.
Meanwhile, traders who do large businesses can perform without being tackled by the market. In traditional markets, dark pools play an essential role in high-frequency trading. But in crypto markets, they're not yet as prominent.
Dark pools–especially large, regulated dark pools–will benefit crypto markets as they facilitate participation in the industry for institutional investors and high net worth individuals. Today, the crypto markets still include these participants, but they use OTC trade desks and other similar platforms with caution. Dark pools would give these groups another option, encouraging more cryptographic adoption.


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Invicta Holdings’ results were dampened by headwinds in each of the markets it operates within. It’s agriculture business was affected by the worst El Niño drought on record, while an 18% year-on-year decline in the mining sector has seen things take a turn for the worse for its businesses in that sector as well. Similarly, the apparent de-industrialisation of South Africa has not helped its engineering work either.
“They are weak results but are mostly reflective of markets they trade in,” says AlphaWealth portfolio fund manager Keith McLachlan. “You have a situation where their volumes were down but their pricing – because obviously you’re importing a lot of the equipment and selling into each of these industries – have offset that to some degree, but revenue excluding acquisitions was flat.”
The company that manages assets of almost R15 billion recorded a 17% drop in operating profit to R846 million for the year ended March 31 2016. Meanwhile earnings per share were down by almost half to R3.91 per share, compared to R7.42 per share the previous year. But this was largely due to a rights issues, wherein the number of shares in issue increased by 44%, or 33 million shares, diluting the company’s ownership. Although the CEO Charles Walters says this will not be happening again anytime soon.
Walters says the company did almost everything within its power to mitigate the impact of the headwinds it faced.
“I think we did well in terms of managing the controllables,” says Walters. “That’s the gross profit margin, which we believe we did reasonably well to improve, considering the circumstances. The second thing we did was manage our costs where, if you exclude the acquisitions and the one-off costs related to BMG’s restructuring of the supply chain, we’ve managed to keep costs flat year-on-year, which is quite an achievement considering we gave increases and that staff is up to 68% of our cost profile.”
He also says the company didn’t carry out any wholesale retrenchments, although it has downsized certain aspects of the business. Also, the company’s executives have taken no salary increases for the second year running.
It has also gone a long way to managing working capital, which is mainly inventories. The company’s products are all imported and have a dollar-, euro- or yen-denominated cost structure yet, despite the significant depreciation in the rand, inventories were up 8%.
Nevertheless, the company still fell victim to the times.
Says Mclachlan: “I would hesitate to use the word ‘victim’, because a good business should be able to navigate its way through literally any environment. But Invicta is a good business, and this was a particularly perfect storm for it to trade through. Despite its market cap, its reach is quite wide. It is still operating close to optimum levels considering the environment. We are just feeling the reality of what’s happening on the ground in South Africa.”
Invicta’s share price dropped by 2.26% on Tuesday, closing at R47.50 per share.


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TagMan, a marketing tag management firm that deals with problems associated with site tagging and tracking of online marketing campaigns, is sharing some interesting results from a survey about ad pixels and tag implementation. The firm surveyed 100 client and agency ad execs around the world, and found that 99% of those surveyed faced problems with ad pixel/tag implementation and management, costing them traffic and sales.
86% of respondents have had tags implemented incorrectly on the sites they manage, while 75% had seen delays in the implementation of tags due to website development cycles, says TagMan.
"The implications of tag management issues among respondents included loss of campaign performance data (65%), delays in launch of a new campaign (63%), delays in use of a new marketing technology (58%), loss of website traffic (31%), loss of website sales (28%). Only 1% said they never faced tag management issues," the firm says.
23% of client and agency respondents spend over $10 million a year on marketing technologies and services that rely on site tags. Still, over a quarter didn’t know how much they spent on IT resources to implement tags.
"Unless you are in the IT department, there is a tendency to gloss over the problems of ad tag implementation and management, taking for granted that somehow ad tags are easily added or taken away without cost or consequence, but as our study shows, there are huge costs and potentially significant loss of revenue from poorly managed ad tags," says TagMan CEO Paul Cook.
30% of the survey’s respondents said it took a week to implement a new tag on the sites they managed, while 24% said the person responsible for implementation spent 1 to 2 days a month on the task. In over half of the cases, the firm says, tagging sits outside the control of marketers.


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Source: Virtual Piggy, Inc.
Virtual Piggy, Inc. (VPIG), provider of award-winning payment technology, today announced that it has retained Viant Capital LLC as its financial advisor to explore strategic alternatives.
Virtual Piggy additionally announced the formation of a special committee of the company's board of directors to work closely with Viant.
“Given recent developments in the payments space, including the legal challenges online retailers are facing related to minors and payments, the company felt it was important to retain a technology-focused investment bank to help explore various strategic options. We are thrilled to be working with Viant and Scott Smith, who will be bringing his over 30 years of financial structuring of public and private companies, fundraising and M&A experience,” said Dr. Jo Webber, Chairman and CEO of Virtual Piggy.
The special committee is comprised of George McDaniel, Chairman of Saber Power Services, LLC, Dr. Jo Webber, CEO and Chairman of Virtual Piggy, and William Tobia, former CFO of Maxwell Systems, Inc.


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Swire names agents at cut-price Island Place
Swire Properties has appointed agents to sell 15 of 90 remaining flats in Island Place at about $6,200 per square foot, down about 40 per cent on the previous sale in June last year.
The company has brought in Midland Realty and Centaline Property Agency to help re-launch the remaining units of the development in North Point.
Property agents said the average price of the 15 units on the 19th and 25th floors of Island Place was $6,115 per square foot.
They said the sharp adjustment in pricing from last year's $10,593 per sq ft was within expectations and in line with overall market correction.
Midland's Island Place assistant sales manager Gary Lee said the price was at market rates and should attract genuine buyers.
However, he said the response would not be strong as market sentiment remained weak.
Agents said other Island Place flat owners were seeking about $6,500 per square foot in the secondary market.
Swire's latest sale, in which they have offered to pay buyers' legal fees for transactions, might put pressure on second-hand prices, agents said.
A Swire spokesman said the company also was selling 28 remaining flats in The Floridian, in Quarry Bay, and 29 flats in Sunningdale, in Mongkok, mainly through property agents.
The Floridian units are offered at about $7,500 per square foot and the Sunningdale units at about $4,800 per square foot.


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Microsoft has unveiled the Surface Pro 2, a new version of its flagship 10.6-inch Windows tablet. Though little has been changed externally on the updated device — it has the same size, weight, and black color scheme as its predecessor — Microsoft says that what's inside has changed quite a bit. "We improved the performance on this product by 20 percent," says Panos Panay, Microsoft's VP of Surface. "If you thought it was fast before, it is lightning fast now." Panay says that the tablet is now faster than 95 percent of laptops and that its graphics performance has increased by 50 percent. The updated tablet includes one of Intel's Core i5 Haswell processors, and Microsoft says that it'll see a 60 percent improvement in battery life over its predecessor.
The Surface Pro 2 is also trying to address one of the biggest complaints many had with the original tablet: that its built-in kickstand was difficult to use when propped on your lap. The new tablet's kickstand has a second position that can prop the device up at a 55 degree angle — in addition to the 22 degree angle present on its predecessor — adding a much more sloped position for it to stand in. Panay also says that the Surface Pro 2 will run quieter and cooler than the original Surface Pro, and that its 1080p display has 46 percent greater color accuracy.
"This is power."
"This is power," says Panay. "This thing's a beast." Panay also believes that Surface Pro 2 will deliver the "full power of a PC" but in the form factor of a tablet. The tablet will be shipping with Windows 8.1 on October 22nd — just a few days after the general release of Windows 8.1 itself. The Surface Pro 2's pricing begins at $899 and stretches up to $1,799, with configurations for 4GB of RAM with either 64 or 128GB of storage, and 8GB of RAM with either 256 or 512GB of storage. It'll be available for pre-order online beginning tomorrow at 8AM ET.
Everyone who purchases a Surface Pro 2 will be given access to several Microsoft services too, including one year of free Skype calling to landlines, as well as unlimited use of Skype-branded Wi-Fi hotspots. And for two years, users will get 200GB of SkyDrive storage as well.
Microsoft is also unveiling several new accessories for its Surface tablets. The Surface Pro line is getting a docking station that will transform the tablets into something closer to a traditional PC by providing USB ports for connecting a mouse and keyboard to, as well as a Mini DisplayPort for adding an external monitor. There’s also a new attachable keyboard called the Power Cover, which includes a built-in battery for extending the tablet’s daily longevity, in addition to a backlit keyboard called the Type Cover 2, among others.


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Put away the champagne and the confetti. 2013 was a year of significant developments in the marketing world that reflected larger changes in society. From simple things, such as micro-video and Snapchats, to larger ideas like Amazon Drones, it seems like every month has innovations that change the game.
That’s what makes it almost impossible to predict 2014. We do know that there will be some wearable technology this year from Google Glass that raises even more questions of privacy and how deep we want technology in our lives. This year ended with the no marketing campaign of Beyoncé and drones. Who knows what the next six months, much less the next twelve months, will bring. Nonetheless, Nao looks fearlessly into the crystal ball to see what the marketing future holds for 2014:
More “No Marketing” campaigns – Beyoncé ended the year with a bang through her surprise release of Beyoncé. The album was released on iTunes with no warning – just one Instagram video post. It set all kinds of records – #1 in most tweets per minute, and #1 in first week downloads, even though it was only three days. Yes, you’d have to be a star of her caliber to release something without warning that moves the meter. But the surprise factor resonates. Look for companies to release product without any warnings in the coming year.
Marketing moves away from Facebook – Facebook ended on a low note for two reasons. First, teens moved away from Facebook, preferring Snapchat and mini-image services. Second, and more important to this blog, marketers moved away from posting on Facebook pages as only about 3% of your fans ever see your posts. Until the Facebook team reworks their algorithm, there’s just better and more effective ways to use your reach.
Snapchat step into the marketing mainstream – we should have seen Snapchat’s rise coming. After all, this is a generation built on viral, and nothing is more viral than 8 seconds of a picture that disappears forever. Whereas Snapchat is previously a conversation between two friends, marketers will be inspired by the platform in 2014.
Drake’s brand increases Toronto’s sports brands – We previously covered the Toronto Raptor’s rebranding efforts last summer. One of the main points was making Drake their brand ambassador, similar to Shaq in Sacramento. Now, the Raptors are rumored to take this one step further by changing their purple uniform scheme into a black and gold scheme associated with the rapper. And Toronto FC have also gotten into the mix, with Drake helping recruit foreign talent to their team. If the Raptors and the MLS club reach success, then Drake may become the strongest brand in music.
- Soccer in America hits a tipping point post World Cup 2014 – We covered how NBC went all in on the English Premier League. This summer, it’s ESPN’s turn to go all in on the World Cup in Brazil. With the biggest names in the field, from Messi to Neymar, at a U.S. friendly time, World Cup 2014 might be THE turning point in soccer in America.


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In this day in age where for a lot of people work commutes are long, travel is often necessary, and a growing number of singles are turning to mobile apps or websites to find their match, there are likely more long distance relationships than ever before. 367 more words
Tags » Mobile Applications
For every marketer or marketing firm, worth their weight in invoices once they understand that the key to their future success is adaption and optimization of the mobile market. 454 more words
Mobile social media applications have become the norm in today’s society. In fact, a recent Digital Consumer Report estimates that 65% of Americans owned a smartphone in 2013—which is up from 44% in 2011. 692 more words
Today, the market is flooded with Android and iOS devices of myriad kinds. There is a fierce debate ranging in the market about which one is the best. 339 more words
New Delhi, India, July 24, 2014: Manusis Technologies, a software development firms which specializes in web building and mobile applications envisions to expand its online stores to a whopping 2000 by the end of the year 2015 under the name of Storehippo.com.
Manusis Technologies has plans to…
Mobile social media applications strive to connect consumers with products or services using a streamlined and expedited approach. Consumers have become so ultra-reliant on their smartphones and mobile devices that having limitless capabilities at your fingertips at any given hour of the day has become customary in American society. 722 more words


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There are four methods to repair damaged DVD discs.
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Taking into classic version is, of [...]
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Quoted from Ubergizmo, [...]
You are one of the fans of the game Plants Vs Zombies? If yes, then this time there is interesting info for you.
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An average of 377 of every 1000 people who live to age 15 years will die before reaching the age of 60 years
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LAMAR, Mo. – Lamar business owners Ashley and Jeremy Augusta have launched a vegan hair care product line, NuLuxe Beauty, with a portion of the proceeds to make wigs for children with childhood cancer.
Worldwide, at least 300,000 children and adolescents are diagnosed with cancer every year. According to the American Childhood Cancer Organization, approximately 1 in 285 children in the US will be diagnosed with cancer before their 20th birthday.
Ashley Augusta, co-owner of Lotus Salon Studios in Lamar, said she is preparing a free hand-colored wig for a 12-year-old girl in Minnesota who asked for pastel unicorn colors. There are about five other children on the waiting list to receive wigs.
“If the child is away, we will deliver the wigs in person, but if not, we will send them directly to them,” Ashley Augusta said. “As soon as the first has been shipped, I will start on the second. I use a human synthetic blend so they can put a little heat on it. I am looking for some wig suppliers to partner with us to offer human hair wigs. “
Salon co-owner Jeremy Augusta also owns the adjacent gym, Barton County Strength Club. He described himself as an entrepreneur through and through, after having been an entrepreneur for 12 years.
“We have other companies, but this is our first product line,” he said. “This has been a big learning curve.”
The husband-and-wife team said they are passionate about fighting cancer and that the wigs were inspired by a loved one who died of the disease. Each wig is made in the hope that it will continue to provide a smile and support during a family’s troubled time.
“We want to help as many people as possible,” said Jeremy Augusta. “We want to grow to where our full-time job helps other people.”
NuLuxe Beauty’s hair care products – shampoo, conditioner, shaping fibers and mousse – are vegan, sulfate-free and paraben-free. They are also safe to use on extensions and all hair types. Jeremy Augusta said they have received orders from all over the United States.
Vegan beauty products are made without animal products, by-products or derivatives. Ingredients from plants contain more antioxidants, vitamins and minerals.
“This is a professional quality product,” said Jeremy Augusta. ‘It doesn’t go on Amazon. It is intended for professional stylists. And the more this grows, the more people we want to hire and create our own production process to create local jobs. “
The Augustas met as students in beauty school at Jenny Lea Academy in Johnson City, Tennessee. They graduated the same day in 2010 and were married later that same year.
“In October 2009, I left the military (army, coast guard), but the economy collapsed,” said Jeremy Augusta. ‘I got out because I was raising two kids on my own, and there were no jobs. I decided to use my GI account to make some money while the economy got better. The only option I had was to go to beauty school to feed my kids. “
They were uprooted from Tennessee and moved to Lamar to start their own business.
“The pieces fell into place a little bit, and it was like we had to be here,” Ashley Augusta said.
Several new products for different hair types are in the works and will be released in the fall. The owners said their goal is to keep growing the line and seeing as many children as possible.
NuLuxe Beauty can be purchased in Lamar at Lotus Salon Studios and Tea Shirt Shoppe and online at www.nuluxebeauty.com. Call 423-502-4237 for more information.